Adidas sports bra advertisement banned for showing women's breasts

2022-05-27 18:41:29 By : Ms. Selina Zhang

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A series of ads for the new Adidas sports bra was banned from the UK for showing images of women’s bare breasts.

The ad campaign — which was launched in February of 2022 — features the bare flesh of dozens of women in various skin colors and sizes to promote the sports bra’s 43-size range, according to the BBC.

“We believe women’s breasts in all shapes and sizes deserve support and comfort,” Adidas said in a tweet showcasing the ad campaign.

“Which is why our new sports bra range contains 43 styles, so everyone can find the right fit for them,”

According to the UK-based Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the advertisement received 24 complaints saying that it was “explicit” and “distasteful.”

Several Twitter users also expressed outrage that the ad sexualizes women and reduces them “to just body parts.”

The ASA has said that it did not believe the women had been objectified or sexualized.

“Although we did not consider that the way the women were portrayed was sexually explicit or objectified them, we considered that the depiction of naked breasts was likely to be seen as explicit nudity,” the ASA said on their website.

“We noted the breasts were the main focus in the ads, and there was less emphasis on the bras themselves, which were only referred to in the accompanying text.”

Twitter has also said that the tweet did not breach the social media company’s terms of service.

The ASA said that they informed Adidas that the ads could not appear again on Twitter or near schools and religious venues.

Adidas UK issued a statement saying that the images were only meant to “reflect and celebrate different shapes and sizes, illustrate diversity and demonstrate why tailored support bras were important.”